Academics at Northumbria
University, Newcastle have been awarded more than £350,000 to carry out research which aims to eradicate the
practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The team, led by Professor
Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala, will analyse statistical data collected over the last
20 years to determine the main reasons behind the practice and whether it is
has declined in that time.
Their work is being funded by the
Population Council, with the announcement coinciding with the International Day
of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on Tuesday 6 February – an
annual event established by the United Nations to raise awareness of FGM.
Professor Kandala is a world expert
in statistical analysis and has spent the last 15 years working with the World
Health Organisation, UNICEF and the UK’s Department for International
Development (DFID) to map global health and disease in developing countries.
As well as identifying potential
FGM hotspots, his research aims to identify the
environmental, social and cultural reasons behind the continued practice of FGM.
This will lead to collaborations with others experts in the
field of human rights (University of Geneva), social norms (University of Washington), and political science
(University of California, San Diego).
Professor Kandala said: “In
recent years, global efforts to end female genital mutilation have intensified
through the combined work of international and non-governmental organisations,
governments, and religious and civil society groups.
“One question often asked is
whether there is any evidence that FGM is declining and what are the drivers of
the practice among young girls. For many years, these questions were not easy
to answer due to the lack of nationally representative data.
“However, in the last two
decades, reliable data has been generated in many African countries through major
household surveys. Using all this information we will for the first time be
able to get a clear picture of the change in attitudes towards FGM and where
and why the practice is still taking place.”
This latest funding has been
awarded through the Population Council’s ‘Evidence to End FGM/C’ research
programme, part of the Department for International Development’s flagship
‘Towards Ending FGM/C in Africa and Beyond’ project.
During the project, Professor
Kandala and a team of academics from Northumbria will analyse data from three
African countries – Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal – examining trends in FGM and
exploring how quickly and widely the practice is being abandoned.
In particular, the research will
focus on girls aged 0 to 14, analysing how factors such as the income and
education of the girls’ mothers and the communities they live in affect the
prevalence of FGM.
The group’s findings will be
published later this year and used to influence future strategic investment,
policy and programming, with the aim of eradicating FGM completely.
Professor Kandala’s research in
this area has resulted in invitations to speak at a wide range of high profile
conferences and events. In April last year he was asked by the United Nations
to present at the Global Consultations on the Joint UNFPA-UNICEF Female Genital
Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C): Accelerate Change conference in Uganda. And in
September he spoke at the United Nations Population Fund, Experts Group Meeting
on Costing UNFPA Contributions to Female Genital Mutilation Elimination, in New
York. He has also spent time working with the United Nations to train their own
staff in the methodologies of modelling FGM.
In recent years, Professor
Kandala has also played a major role in helping establish a group to train
biostatisticians in Africa, resulting in the formation of the Sub-Saharan
African Consortium for Advanced Biostatistical Training (S2ACABT).
On Tuesday he will be raising
awareness of FGM as part of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female
Genital Mutilation by making information available to students and staff at
Northumbria University, as well as members of the public.
Professor Kandala teaches Statistics at Northumbria and is part of the University’s Department of Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering. He has recently been involved in establishing a new Statistics MSc course. For more information, including courses on offer,
please click here.
